Fall from Grace
by Lothiriel84
Summary: All she got was a shrug. "That's none of your business anyway". "It is. Lisbon in my boss – and my friend. I want you to give up your childish spite. Now".
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's note: **written for the Paint It Red May 2012 Monthly Challenge - the prompt is a quote from the song "Home" by Gabrielle Aplin._

* * *

**Fall from Grace**

**Chapter 1**

Three pairs of eyes turned to Lisbon as she strode into the bullpen. The single notable exception was currently lying on his worn-out leather couch, clearly determined not to meet her gaze.

"We just got a new lead. Van Pelt, would you please check the transactions of the people on this list? Cho, Rigsby, you come with me".

"All right, boss".

Grace couldn't help noticing the glance that Lisbon cast at Jane a moment before heading towards the elevator. The man just ignored her, pretending to be completely absorbed in his examination of the Elvis-shaped stain on the ceiling.

"Are you going to be a jerk any much longer, Jane?"

He seemed unimpressed by her curt remark. "I don't know what you're talking about, my dear Grace".

"Oh, you do. Believe me".

As he didn't reply she stood up and approached the couch – flaming hazel eyes meeting icy blue ones.

"She doesn't deserve to be treated like that, you moron".

All she got was a shrug. "That's none of your business anyway".

"It _is_. Lisbon in my boss – and my friend. I want you to give up your childish spite. Now".

His gaze turned even colder. "Yeah, that's what I am. Childish. What about the woman who robbed me of my only purpose in life? She deserves to be praised, doesn't she? I bet she's really happy now – might even get a promotion very soon. No matter if that poor fool feels betrayed by the single friend he had really come to trust in years".

The brief flash of pity that clutched her chest wasn't enough to temper her anger.

"She did it for you – you know that perfectly well".

"I didn't ask her to", he finally snapped. "I never asked her to save me. She knew what catching Red John meant to me, and she deliberately lied in order to prevent me from achieving my goal. What do you expect me to do? Thank her?"

"You know what, Jane? Do us all a favor, and go to hell!"

He stared at her for a full minute. "I gather I'm not exactly welcome here. Don't worry, Grace. You're going to get rid of my undesirable presence right now".

With that he stood up, reached for his jacked and just walked out of the door.

"Very well. Go away", she muttered to the now empty bullpen. "You've always been one for the easy way out, haven't you?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Does anybody here have any clue about the reason for Jane quitting his job?"

The baffled – and slightly dazed – expression on Wainwright's face made him look more childlike than ever.

Rigsby and Cho exchanged a quick glance, while Lisbon just dropped her head. The main reason for Jane wanting to leave the team was kind of obvious – they had taken Red John away from him after all. They had no idea about what had trigger his sudden departure though.

He didn't even stick around to say goodbye. That for sure wasn't a good sign at all.

It was only when Wainwright and Lisbon had returned to their respective offices that Cho noticed something odd about Van Pelt's behavior. She didn't seem surprised in the slightest by their boss's boss announcement.

"What happened?"

She went on typing furiously. "You heard Wainwright. Jane has decided to quit. There's nothing else to add".

"You were here with him before he left. Did he say anything about it all?"

"Fine. I was sick and tired of him behaving as if the boss had suddenly become his worst enemy. I just told him to stop. Apparently he didn't took that well".

"That's why he left without notice".

"Yeah".

Cho briefly turned to look at Rigsby – who was trying to look as busy as possible. Didn't want to mess with Grace's choices, that was pretty clear.

"Go ahead and say it", Van Pelt went on after a moment. "What a horribly insensitive person am I… while poor Jane had his family slaughtered and all that. Well, I'm fed up with that being an excuse for him to ill-treat people that actually _care_ about him".

"There's going to be trouble about this", Cho delivered in a matter-of-fact tone. "No way the boss will be happy about Jane's sudden disappearance. And Jane _does_ need someone to keep an eye on him".

"So be it", was Grace's final statement – before she turned her full attention to the computer screen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I'm sorry, boss".

"No need to be, Cho. Right from the start I knew that Jane was going to be angry at me if my plan to catch Red John worked out well. It was just a matter of time before he decided our friendship wasn't worth it and left".

"We're all going to miss him nevertheless".

"Yeah", she whispered softly. She would sorely miss him – despite all the times his crazy stunts had made her regret having the liability for his actions.

As Cho went out of her office she slid open the drawer in her desk. The bottle of tequila was kind of calling her name tonight.

Damn her and her propensity for lost causes. No matter how hard she tried, she always failed to rescue the people she most cared about.

Her father and his drinking problem.

Sam Bosco.

Jane.

She gulped the first shot of tequila. Life wasn't fair, was it?

Her mother's death had had her figuring out that much. Even if at the time she was just twelve.

Why should she grieve over Jane quitting their friendship? She got what she wished for anyway.

He was still alive. He hadn't turn into a murderer, and therefore didn't risk going to jail for life. He was free now. Free from the serial killer who had haunted his footsteps for all those years. Who had almost driven him crazy.

If the price she had to pay for all that was never hearing from Jane again… well, she was willing to accept it.

That didn't mean this wasn't going to hurt.

It _would_ hurt. Like hell.

She was probably doomed to suffer. There was nothing to do about that.

The single comfort she still had was a bunch of memories. And the tequila she carefully kept hidden inside her desk.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

He had promised himself he wasn't going to be sorry for leaving. He wasn't going to miss the team.

He didn't _need_ them. Actually, he had _never_ needed them.

They were just a means to an end. That was all.

Why it was that he felt so bad then?

"They didn't really care about me, Angie", he said to the empty room. "Just as I didn't care about them".

_Liar._

"She lied to me! After all her talk about trust and friendship – I can't believe that she did".

_How many times did you lie to her, Patrick?_

"That was different", he countered stubbornly. "I never lied about the things that mattered most. I told her from the beginning that I wanted to kill Red John. She knew that".

_She knew it, and she didn't want you to do such a thing. It's her doing if you didn't become a serial killer like Red John._

"I had a right to kill him! He murdered you and Charlotte – and I was the one responsible for that. I just _had_ to make him pay for what he'd done. It was my _duty_. I owed it to you".

_You didn't owe me that. Nor to Charlotte for that matter._

"You don't understand, Angie".

_Really? Who's the one talking to an empty room here? Not me, I guess._

"If they were my friends, they would have helped me instead of hindering me!"

_They helped you, Patrick. You're not willing to admit that they did, that's all._

"Their life will be better without me anyway. I might be doing them a favor as a matter of fact".

_Stop wallowing in self-pity and self-loathing. It's of no use, and you know it perfectly well._

"It's just what I deserve for what I've done to my loved ones".

_There are people out there who still care about you. Who need you. Charlie and I would be glad for you to let the past rest and finally move on._

"I'm not ready for hitting the dating scene again, Angie", he replied wryly. "I suspect I'll never be".

_Quit the silliness, Patrick. You're not going to get away with this so easily._

He shrugged. Was he really talking to a ghost? Or was it just his mind playing a trick on him?

Maybe he'd been alone inside that house for too long. He'd better get some sort of human contact before he went completely crazy.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Rigsby frowned as he got that text. He had to read it twice before figuring it out.

_How's Benjamin? I kind of miss the little rascal. J._

_He's fine, thanks_, he texted back. A bit dumb, he had to admit – didn't know what else to say anyway.

_Good. What about you?_

Looked like Jane intended to chat via text messages. Well, after a month of complete silence, that was a sort of improvement – wasn't it?

_Pretty good. Sarah and I are sorting things out. I just hope for the best._

His cellphone buzzed again a moment later.

_Glad to hear that. Good luck._

_Thanks._

There was a longer pause at that point. Rigsby was just beginning to think that Jane was already tired of sending him texts, when he got another one.

_How're the guys?_

He sighed. Of course that was Jane's original question – the one that had prompted all the texting as a matter of fact.

_Don't really know._

_Come on. You see them every day, don't you?_

_Well, Cho is… Cho, you know._

_I know. Very well argued anyway._

Rigsby could almost picture the man annoyingly smirking at him.

_Stop being an idiot, or I won't answer your question._

_Okay. Sorry. Go ahead._

_Grace is… kind of weird lately._

_I figured that much._

_Hey, she's been through a lot!_

_I know._

_There's a guy who asked her on a date. She turned him down._

_Can't blame her. Most of her dates were actually crazy murderers._

_Except for you, of course_, was the text that followed a second later.

_Thank you very much._

_You're welcome._

Rigsby started fidgeting. Didn't like what was going to come next.

_What about Lisbon?_

Here he was. Damn.

_Well, I'm afraid she's a bit upset._

He waited for Jane's reply for what seemed ages.

_I'm sorry to hear that._

_You have to be. It's your fault, you know?_

At that point the communication stopped abruptly. Rigsby just sighed again and went upstairs to check if Benjamin was still asleep.

He wasn't expecting to hear from Jane anytime soon.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"Hello?"

"If I were you, I'd rather go on that date. Rigsby seems to like the guy as a matter of fact".

"Who's there?"

She heard the man at the other end of the phone actually chuckling at this.

"Come on, Grace. Who else could it be?"

"Jane?"

"No, I'm the governor of California".

"Very funny".

A long silence followed.

"Still angry at me?"

She bit her lip. "I've never been really angry at you – as you'll probably know. I just couldn't stand you being a jerk to your best friend, I guess".

"Maybe I deserved your rant".

"You bet".

He chuckled again. "Don't push you luck, my lovely redhead".

"If you ever call me that again, I'm going to track you down and shoot you".

"You're a bit of a spitfire, Grace – aren't you?"

"Jane, what did you call me for?"

"Well, I was thinking… since you were my eye-opener…"

"Yeah?"

A sigh came through the line. "Do you think that Lisbon would have me back? Or I'd better stay away and avoid causing her further pain?"

Grace's tone suddenly became very serious. "She misses you. I don't know why she should feel like that, but that's it".

"Okay", was all she got by way of an answer.

It was more than she had ever dared to hope anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

A smile touched his lips as he read Cho's text.

_She's gone home earlier this evening. You'd better not hurt her buddy, or they'll never find your body._

Trust Cho to protect his friends. The stoic agent would kick the living daylights out of him if he ever dared to harm a hair on Lisbon's head.

Not that he meant to do such a thing. All he was looking forward to was talking to her. Maybe even picking up the shards of their previous friendship and trying to fix it – if he only could.

Neither of them uttered a single word as she opened her front door and stared at him for a couple of minutes.

Then she slapped him hard across the face.

He didn't recoil. That was well deserved – to say the least.

What he wasn't expecting was Lisbon grabbing the lapels of his jacket and crushing her lips against his. _Not that he actually minded this_, a small part of his brain promptly informed him.

_Not at all._

A moment later he felt something warm and wet on his cheeks.

It was her tears – as well as his own, his mind vaguely registered.

He didn't care anyway.

"I'm sorry, Patrick", she whispered against his lips.

He rested his forehead on hers. "I'm sorry too. Believe me".

She chuckled despite the lump she still felt in her throat. "I… might have gotten a bit carried away a moment ago".

"You mean the slap or the kiss?"

Her cheeks blushed crimson at this. "Jane, I…"

"Hush, Teresa. You don't need to answer my question".

"Really?"

"Really. I'd rather know whether you feel like slapping me or kissing me now. Perhaps I'd better leave you alone for a while and let you recover from the shock".

She ran the palm of her hand on his chest. "What about Red John?"

"Well, he's dead now, isn't he?"

His answer didn't come across as cheerful as he had meant it to be. It was a good start anyway.

That's when he leaned forward and captured her lips again.

All the rest could wait.


End file.
